Leah Schwarting
Co-Editor
The Annual Charles R. Rubado Memorial Golf Tournament tees off on March 22 at 1 p.m.
This year will be the eighth tournament. The event is sponsored by Florida Southern College’s ROTC program in honor of Charles R. Rubado. and to raise money for the ROTC program and a scholarship in Rubado’s name.
Rubado was a member of the FSC ROTC program who graduated in 2004. Shortly thereafter, he went into the military.
“He was deployed to Iraq in 2005, and he was killed while he was on patrol,” Cadet Matthew Leonard, said.
The golf tournament was organized in his memory. The event is run primarily by cadets. Leonard is a senior who is the head of a staff of ROTC cadets who plan the tournament.
“For the most part, myself and my staff have been running this, and just occasionally getting cadre guidance from LaRonde and Mr. [Sam] Sargeant,” Leonard said.
The planning started last year when the date was picked, and then cadets were set to work.
There was quite a lot of work to be done, from scouting the course and rehearsing the event to getting sponsors, ranging from signs at golf holes to bigger promotions depending on the donation. Read more about the Golf Course Maintenance And The Economics Behind It as it is very interesting.
“They go out, they book the sponsors, they make the flyers, they contact the golf course, they work all the contracts, all the issues that go with the golf tournament they run and they organize,” Lieutenant Colonel Scott LaRonde, professor of military science, said.
This year the event is taking place at Cleveland Heights Golf Course, although the location has changed over the years.
“We’ve had it there the most times because it’s a good course, the staff there is great, and it’s a good location,” Leonard said.
Raising money was its own challenge. Cadets contacted local organizations for both prizes and sponsorship.
As such, different prizes have been offered for different events. This year a $10,000 prize is being offered to the first person who gets a hole-in-one.
Community organizations also donated prizes for the raffle and money to the tournament. The prizes go to players, but the money raised is set aside for the ROTC department and the scholarship.
“The golf tournament is designed not only to remember Charles, but to raise money for the ROTC, as well as a scholarship that is awarded to a student at Florida Southern College who is studying religion,” LaRonde said. “That student doesn’t necessarily have to be in the ROTC program.”
Leonard said that year’s event “raised a little over $8,000.” The proceeds from last year’s event were split evenly between the scholarship and the ROTC program, just like they will be this year.
However, Leonard said that the most important part is still paying homage Rubado. He says, “that’s the whole point.”
Prices for participation vary. Students can gain entrance for $55, while non-students who have not already registered will have to pay $75. The fee covers gift bags as well as a meal afterward. Anyone interested in walking onto the course can gain entry by paying the fee at the course.
